28 July 2024

28 July 2024 - 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Transcript

Reading:  

Ephesians 4:4-6

Write:  

One body and one Spirit,
 as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
 one God and Father of all,
 who is over all and through all and in all.

Reflect:   

One (walk away from pulpit for a moment)! One (Pause)! Why does Paul emphasize this one word so much? I think it is because even in his day there were those who were not standing with the Church. I think in his day there were already people who were trying to create their own faith.

We have seen throughout these 2000 plus years of Christianity many who would choose to distort the fullness of the faith for their own purposes. We are still having problems with that in our day. While I was on vacation, I managed to watch a few of the talks that were given at the Eucharistic Convention in Cincinnati. There was a call for unity under the truth of the Church, under the reality that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

There are, unfortunately, too many people who try to create the faith in their own image. I imagine every one of us does that to a certain degree. But we have to recognize that it is under one God and Father that we all worship. And that it is through Jesus that we have been given the marching orders for how that is to be done.

Certainly there are different ways the Church has discovered to complete that mission. If that were not the case, why would there be different religious orders? But there stands a core to our faith that we ignore at our own eternal peril.

Apply:   

We have been called by the power of the Holy Spirit to live in the one faith, with one baptism by which we are able to be called children of the one God. Baptism is more than just simply a pouring of water. It is more than a symbolic action. It is the way in which we are enabled – purely by the grace of God – to be called children of God. We are no longer just human beings. No. We have become sacred beings. And it is the power of baptism that changes us.

What has God chosen to do for us? By the power of baptism we have within us something that has changed us from broken and damaged human beings. 

I think we underestimate the powerful change that God has chosen to give to us by letting us be called His children. I think on one level we know this is true. But do we take full advantage of what God has chosen to give us?

Paul challenges us in our reading today to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received…”

The emphasis on that call should put us in a place where we can respond to the rest of what he calls us to. The Eucharistic Congress and its emphasis on the power of the Eucharist in our midst needs to be the driving force of our faith for today. What we have been given, not just by our baptism, but by the presence of our Eucharistic Lord should be able to transform our society. I am not talking about a theocracy. But what would happen if all the Catholics, not to mention the other Christians in our country, would recognize the authority that God has given by the power of our baptism? How would our country be changed?

I know you have heard me quote Patrick Henry’s comment that this country was founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a truth that should shake the foundations of our country. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

How much have we taken advantage of what God has done for us? We are members of the royal family of God! Do you see yourself as a princess or prince in His Kingdom? What authority has God given us – here on earth – through the power of prayer? Do we expect to be able to transform our society?

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” While this phrase is not in the Creed that we will say in a moment, it is certainly a creedal statement that should give us the drive necessary to make our faith a transformative power for our world today.

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Pause) One!

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